The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

The practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

When you are you, Zen is Zen. Big mind is just big mind.

Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.